officers - The Black Vault

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,_. Wh11ecalling for cairn,. TV naturally went to the whip -c• ·."
when, during the evening, violence broke out at the ·
intersection of Florence and Normandie in South Los
Angeles, resulting in looting, sev~ral beatings and a loss of
control. Other viole~c;:e and fires soon followed in a horrifying
sight. ·. .
In TV terms, the shots were riveting, and helicopter crews
showed them in detail.· · . : · . . . . ·
KNBC gave prominenfcoverage to what was simpiy a .~. · .
thrilling gathering at the First African Methodist Episcopal
Church near dqwntown, which was taking place-with a
choir singi_ng and prayers beil)g ren9ered-even as the
.violence Waf! occurring at Florence and Normandie. .
At least one TV station dramatically played the music from
the church while showing footage of the violence. While some
may have found the juxtaposition hard to swallow, it. captured
much of the contrast of the day and the feelings that
abounded. ·
There were other tense TV moments as well. When one of
the accused officers, Stacey.C.Koon,left the Simi Valley
-courthouse, he was besieged by an angry, shouting crowd that
surged around him yelling "Guilty!" and "Racist!" ·
And there was also tension as a crowd gathered at the
Parker Center police headquarters downtoym.
. .
. . .
Hopes that the constant TV exposure to angry voices
would be a form of release gave way to fears that it
would further fan the flames. And no one will forget
the sh.ots of disbelief in a barbershop in a black neighborhood
as the v~rdicts were being read.
It was such an emotional day that even KCBS' fair-minded
anchor 'fritia Toyo~ editorialized at one point that "one of the
positive" outcomes of the King case was that Los Angeles
now had a new police chief. ·
Despite the blanket coverage, it was rather startling to see a
news-oriented station such as KTLA Channel5-which first
showed the King videotape-cut away from the sto.ry for
entertainment programs such as "Magnum, P.I."
And then there was the Fox TV reporter whp apprpached
the jurors as tJ:iey left, saying: "Why are yoq covering your
eyes? Why are you hiding your eyes in shame?"
In another shot, viewers saw a white woman in an angry
exchange with two black women. "There's no goddamn
justice," one of the black women yelled. "LAPD, keep doing
your jobs," shouted the white woman. "Protect our rights!"
And a Simi Valley woman told KABC: "They're acting like ·.
Simi Valley is full·of racist people, and I don't think that's
true, and jt's notfair." · · ·
On and on the drama raged, and ne?fbY Hollywood couldn't
begin to match the real story as a city tried to come to grips
with~tself. · ::.. ,,'< • • .. • . ~. ••• ·